McCall, ID (Monday, May 16, 2005) - “There’s no one to blame but Mother Nature,” said Judd DeBoer, Brundage Mountain President.

In spite of consistently good conditions on the mountain, below normal snowfall caused a drop of thirteen percent in skier visits this season. “With other resorts in the Northwest having poor snow conditions it was difficult to convince people that Brundage had good skiing,” added DeBoer.

A skier visit is defined as one skier visiting Brundage Mountain for one day.

The official skier visit count for the 2004/2005 winter season is 105,979 according to Brundage Mountain officials. 2003/2004 was a record setting season at 122,430 skier visits.

“We’re disappointed with the lower numbers,” said DeBoer, “but not surprised. All our departments on the mountain performed well and customers were happy. Our slope grooming crews received a lot of compliments this season.

“We’re looking forward to a busy summer,” DeBoer said. “We’ll open the summer season on July 1st for lift served mountain biking and scenic chairlift rides, plus a major concert in our big, grassy amphitheater.”

In addition to normal maintenance, summer work plans include ongoing preparation for new lifts. With the infrastructure installed, the lifts can be added as soon as financially feasible.

Despite decent conditions for much of the season, disappointing snowfall throughout the Pacific Northwest this year had a detrimental effect on Brundage skier visits. (photo: Jay Silviera/J&E Productions)